The Winner Takes It All
by mewandmewtworock
Summary: I was the lone wanderer again, the stuff of legends, the person who walked through the Wasteland bringing death and destruction behind her, never staying, always on the move. Hearing about this person on the radio was different to being her.
1. Banishment

**This starts at the end of the side quest Trouble on the Homefront and does follow the main quest to a certain point.**

"I did what was best for you, for everyone." I told Amata, just after I'd informed her that I was forced to kill The Overseer... again.

"You meant well but you don't have to kill people all the time." Amata folded her arms and shook her head. I was dumbstruck. She sent out a broadcast asking for my help, I stopped searching for my dad to come back. I did what she asked but that still wasn't good enough. I always did something wrong in her eyes.

"You wanted this Amata. You told me to do what I had to." I clenched my fists. I could feel the other rebels staring at us, none of them knowing what to do.

"I didn't want you to kill anyone. I thought killing my dad along with half the security force was bad enough." She exclaimed.

"We can't do everything the nice way. This world doesn't work like that. Not that you'd know. This is paradise compared to the wasteland." I commented. I didn't know why I was still talking to her.

"What happened to the sweet little girl who used to be my friend? The girl who wanted to be the next vault teacher. That used to be you." Amata was trying my patience. I used every ounce of self restraint to not reach for my shotgun and blast a hole in her chest.

"So what's next? I've helped you; don't deny that, what are you going to do with me?" I asked and sighed deeply.

"You have helped and I'm grateful. But I can't forgive you for what you've done. You must be used to this by now." Amata started to say. She stopped as if she was choosing her words carefully so not to aggravate me.

"The outside changes you. Drains you of emotion." I replied. I was used to hatred, pain and rejection. It's what my life was.

"I'm sorry. You're a hero... and you have to leave." Amata said. I was expecting it but I still couldn't believe it. Banished from the vault twice, from my home. Just as I was about to leave Amata hugged me tightly. I wished she hadn't done that. I could've left hating her and gotten on with my life but now I'd just miss her. I walked down the corridors of Vault 101 for the last time. It wasn't like the time before. I wasn't running for my life this time.

I flipped the switch and the vault door opened with a loud screech. I waited a few more seconds in case Amata came running like before and told me I could stay, that this would always be my home. She didn't and I left. I wasn't scared this time. The door closed behind me and I looked back, longingly. I walked back out into the wasteland, the sudden light blinding me. I walked the short distance to Megaton, remembering the first time I walked down this route.

"Good morning madam." Wadsworth, my robotic butler greeted me inside my house. I didn't say anything. I went to my bedroom and just collapsed onto the bed. I fell asleep quickly, just wanting to get away from everything for an hour or two. I didn't sleep a lot. I couldn't sleep. I was woken a few hours later by a knock at my door. I reluctantly got out of bed and trudged down the stairs and to the front door. I opened it and standing outside was a young man, a few years older than me, with bright red hair looking nervous.

"Ah hello Vex, mind if I talk to you?" He said. How did he know my name? And where I lived.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"Oh, I'm Red. I wasn't supposed to just say your name. I've never met you. Which is weird considering I know you." He said quickly.

"Sorry, I need an explanation of all of this." I let him inside my house and closed the door behind him.

"It's not important. I have something I need to tell you." Red stopped speaking so quickly. My heart started racing.

"You've just returned from Vault 101 after being banished a second time but it's not the last." He started telling me before I interjected.

"Wait what? But Amata will never let me back in." I said. My heart beat faster, threatening to explode out of my chest.

"I need to tell you this because if you think you can never go home then you get depressed, you never finish what you have to do. You are the saviour of the wasteland Vex. You've been through so much and you're nearly there." Red clasped my hands in his. He looked me dead in the eyes as he spoke.

"How do you know this?" Was all I could say.

"I'm from a Vault, Vault 100. We tested out future technology, most of which went horribly wrong. I know the future. I know you." Red told me. Were all vaults used for testing?

"What's going to happen?" I whispered. I couldn't find it in me to speak at a normal volume I was so astounded.

"You need to take to Doctor Li to the Citadel, then you will learn about Vault 87. You'll need to go to Little Lamplight, go through murder pass and enter Vault 87. I'll be with you to make sure you do this. Think of me as your own guardian angel." He informed me.

"When do I need to do this?" I asked, finding my voice again.

"In about a week. In the mean time I've got something to show you." He let go of my hands and lifted my Pip-Boy up and pressed some buttons. A green light surrounded us and we were fast travelled to Rivet City.

"What are we doing here?" I asked as we walked across the bridge. He didn't say anything only led me through corridors and stairwells until we came to The Muddy Rudder, Rivet City's local bar.

"Go sit down, when Belle asks you for a drink say yes, anything." Red instructed me and gave me a shove in the back so I stumbled forward. I did as he said exactly. Belle gave me a bottle of beer which I drank slowly. The door opened but I just stared down.

"Haven't seen you here before, want anything?" Belle said to someone.

"Yeah okay, anything. I don't mind." A familiar voice said and sat down next to me. I looked at who he was. My eyes widened when I saw.

"Butch?" I exclaimed. I saw Red in the background smiling at me.

"Vex I didn't expect you to be here. What are you doing here?" He asked me. It felt so comforting to see a familiar face. Even if it was Butch DeLoria.

"Never mind me, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the vault?" I asked him back. I was still getting over the shock of seeing him.

"I'm not staying in some stuffy vault, Amata can't boss me around." Butch took a long drink from his bottle and then burped in my face causing both of us to laugh. Red came over to sit next to me after watching the two of us.

"Oh Butch this is my friend Red." I introduced him. Red already knew who Butch was.

"Vex we'd better go. There's something... important I need to tell you." Red tugged on my arm.

"Okay then, bye Butch. Will you be staying here?" I asked him as I stood up.

"Yeah, I've got nowhere else to go." Butch waved to me as Red and I left. He took me to an unoccupied hotel room, opening it by typing in a password on the control panel.

"Vex, I have something to tell you. I was going to tell you later but to hell with it." Red locked the door again and we both sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Aren't you messing with the future or something?" I asked him just in case he'd change what would happen.

"I wasn't going to find you today but I did, I've messed with the future enough, believe me." He ran a hand through his hair and breathed out heavily.

"Vex, I'm your half brother. James was my father as well as yours. I'm five years older than you. My mother, not important. She met James one day when he visited our vault looking for something. I think you can guess what happened. James stayed with us for a year then left to be with your mother." Red said quickly.

"I have a brother." I said just to make sure I knew what was going on.

"I know James is dead. I've known for ages. I was dreading that day for ages." He told me. If I thought I'd taken it badly, he'd known it was going to happen.

"Why didn't he stay with you and your mother if you came first?" I asked curiously. I didn't want to talk about dad's death.

"He loved Catherine. They were trying to have a baby for so long and I guess to see if there was anything wrong James tried with my mother. He stayed for a year because he was working on something, then he finished." He informed me. He sounded as if he still resented dad to this day. But I guess he had a reason to.

"So what now?" I sighed. So much had happened that day it was overwhelming.

"We sleep. In the morning we've got a couple of things to do but I think you need to time to... grab hold of this. You have the bed, I'll sort something out." Red patted me on the shoulder and stood up. I took my armour off first and put all my weapons and supplies on the floor in a pile and crawled underneath the covers. It was cold but somewhat comforting.

The night seemed to go on forever. I didn't know if Red had slept but I hadn't. I just stared up at the ceiling until my eyes started to ache. I couldn't grab hold of what was going on. There were noises outside constantly. Footsteps, creaking and voices all night long. I eventually decided to wake Red up. It was morning enough.

"What are we doing today?" I asked when we were both ready and equipped.

"I think you had a stressful enough day yesterday, why don't you just... float around while I take care of a couple of things?" Red suggested. I was glad he had because that was exactly what I wanted to do.

"Where and when shall we meet?" I asked as we walked out of the hotel room.

"Back at the hotel room at anytime." Red told me as we parted ways for the time being. I went to The Muddy Rudder to see if Butch was there but he wasn't so I stayed waiting for him.

"You're here early." Belle commented but didn't object to it.

"Couldn't sleep." I muttered back. It was two hours later when Butch finally made an appearance.

"Didn't think you'd still be here." Butch said as he sat next to me.

"I'll be here for a bit but then I'll have to leave but I'll come back. I promise." I smiled at him. Despite the fact he bullied me throughout my childhood he was still a good friend now. Maybe it was because we were all we had left. The only thing we really knew in this crazy wasteland.

We were all we had left of home.

**And voila! A Fallout 3 story because it is my all time favourite game ever. I'd been putting off writing this for a while but finally I've done it. I hope this is good enough. I'd had this idea brewing for some time but I couldn't get it to make sense before but I'll guess we'll see how this goes.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	2. Reminiscing

It was a long slow day as Butch and I just talked throughout it. We reminisced about old times in the vault, what happened when I left and for the most of it we just talked about nothing in particular. I somehow managed to kid myself I had a decent life.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice slurred because of how much we'd been drinking. I lifted my Pip-Boy up to my face and saw the time was eight o'clock at night. It felt like three days had passed.

"Should we go to bed now?" Butch gripped the bar tightly so not to fall off his stool.

"Probably... but nah. Let's stay out all night!" I started laughing uncontrollably and then I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders.

"I'll take her now. I'll be back for you later." Red dragged me out of the bar and up to the hotel room while I tried to hug him constantly, going on about how his hair reminded me of blood.

"But I don't want to go to bed!" I protested like a little kid. Red pushed me onto the bed and left the room quickly, locking it behind him. He came back half an hour later, looking pretty annoyed.

"You're going to sleep. Don't argue Vex. That friend of yours is bad enough." Red sat down on a chair and sighed heavily.

"Why are you so grumpy today?" I whined as Red tried to help me take my armour off.

"Doesn't matter Vex. I'm not here to talk with you. I'm here because you need me." Red threw my stuff aside and had to hold me down before I stopped trying to get out of bed.

"Can't you change the future?" I asked once I calmed down.

"Not unless I lose my abilities. Which will happen soon, I just don't know when." He patted me on the head and I promptly fell asleep. I knew I'd made a mistake getting drunk. I'm just glad Red helped me before I did something I'd regret. I should probably thank him in the morning.

I woke up feeling fine, which surprised me. I'd never been drunk before but I'd seen it and learnt about it. Especially from Ellen DeLoria. Red wasn't there in the morning but he'd left me a note saying he was doing stuff and also told me the password for the door. I typed it in and decided to do something different today. I decided to go to the market and sell some of my stuff.

I gathered up all my random junk and managed to make two hundred caps which I spent buying ammo and stimpaks. I didn't know what to do then. I wandered around for a bit, talked with some of the residents and even then it was only eleven o'clock in the morning. That's why I spent most of my days out doing something, fighting and exploring.

I checked my map on my Pip-Boy at any locations I could go explore. One place stuck out for me, the Super-Duper Mart. When I was helping Moira with the Wasteland Survival Guide I only looted food from the market. I fast-travelled there and remembered when I first went there. This time I didn't have the fear of death looming over me. I was better equipped. I went inside and felt the memories flood back.

**/Flashback\**

_I pushed the door open, my heart racing. When the door closed behind me after I went inside I was plunged into almost complete darkness. I turned my Pip-Boy light on and slowly walked between the shelves, looking for food and medicine. I then spotted a door and decided to go look there. It was a locked door so I took out a bobby pin and picked the lock. The door swung open and I spotted a fridge, that must be where the food is kept. I walked over to it, happy that I'd completed the first part of my quest so easily. I took all the food and heard a gunshot, a bullet lodged in my right arm and I yelped in pain. I turned quickly to see a raider shooting at me. I took out my 10mm pistol I still had from Amata and aimed carefully at his head. His head exploded into a firework of blood and brains. I sprinted out of the market as quickly as I could and all the way back to Megaton._

"_Oh well that'll do. So what was it like in there?" Moira asked when I handed her the food. I was out of breath and my arm was bleeding profusely. I had stopped it slightly by ripping off part of my jumpsuit and tying it around the wound._

"_Raiders are using it as a hideout. They had a lot of supplies." I looked down at my makeshift bandage which was already blood-soaked._

"_Here's your reward. Oh my, that wound looks nasty, do you want me to help you with that?" Moira sounded concerned when she noticed it._

"_Would you?" I said tiredly. She smiled sweetly at me and sat me down on a chair and went to work on my arm, taking the bullet out and bandaging it properly. She also gave me some stimpaks to ease the pain._

"_Anytime you need help just come here and I'll help you. Free of charge as long as you keep bringing me all your unwanted stuff." Moira took out a pen and wrote her name on my bandage._

"_It's a deal." I shook her hand and we smiled brightly at each other. I'd made my first wasteland friend._

**/End of flashback\**

I walked over to the raider that I'd killed on that day. By now he had decomposed and all his stuff had been looted. I sighed and started casually rooting through boxes. I'd told others of what was there and they'd cleared most of it out, just leaving all the random odds and ends which I picked up to sell to Moira. Other than that everything had been taken. I travelled back to Megaton on foot and went straight to Craterside Supply. Moira was sweeping the floor as she usually did, the Mercenary standing menacingly in the corner.

"Oh hey there, what do you need today?" Moira stopped to look and smile at me.

"I've got some stuff for you. I went to the Super-Duper mart." I tipped out all the random stuff on to the counter and she happily accepted everything and paid me a handsome amount for it.

"So how are you doing?" She asked friendlily.

"I found out I have a long lost half brother who can see into the future and I got banished from Vault 101 for the second time." I said as if it was normal.

"Well that's good and bad. So what's your brother like?" She asked. She asked about the right subject.

"His name is Red, he has bright red hair and is slightly annoying. Speaking of him, I'd better go back to Rivet City. I'll come visit you as soon as I can." I smiled apologetically and left the shop and fast-travelled to Rivet City. It was quite late so I decided to go straight to the hotel room where Red was waiting for me.

"Have a good day?" Red asked. I just shrugged and sat down. Even though we were related we weren't exactly friends.

"We'll have to set out in the morning. You've got things to do." He told me.

"Yeah alright." I sighed and flopped down on the bed. I was getting sick of this hotel room. I wanted my house back.

"I know you don't want to think of James anymore but you have to do this. You don't have a choice." Red tried to be sympathetic with me but I didn't want any of it.

"You don't know. You never knew what dad was like. You weren't there when he died. I do have a choice. All this destiny stuff is utter rubbish." I snapped. I don't know where that outburst came from and even Red seemed surprised. Had I just changed the future?

"Calm down Vex. I'm sorry, okay." Red sounded worried.

"How do you know the future?" I asked curiously. I might as well move the subject on.

"It's a sort of clamp thing on my brain. It was itchy at first which drove me crazy." Red chuckled.

"Could you take it out?" I sat upright and he sat next to me.

"Yes, it would require a complicated operation which would inevitably kill me and if you attached it to someone else's brain it would either wipe their memory completely or it would overload information, causing them to go insane. It's specifically tailored for me." He explained. I found it quite interesting actually.

"Is there any way to sort of deactivate it without killing you?" I tried to sound as if I was asking an innocent question when in fact I was plotting something.

"I think a hard knock to the head would do it. I'm not sure if it would be utterly safe but I'd live." He yawned and went over to a chair where he must've slept.

"Good night Red." I said rather sinisterly. I always did everything the good way and for once I was going to something that could be construed as downright wrong.

I, Vex, the goody two shoes, was going rogue.

**That last line doesn't make much sense, does it? Ah well. Chapter two as you can obviously see. It took me slightly longer to write this chapter but I think it turned out okay. Also flashbacks will be a reoccurring theme but they will be clearly marked.**

**Fallout belongs to Bethesda.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	3. Importance

The footsteps outside kept me awake all night. I thought that someone somehow had figured out my plan and was going to try and stop me. I wondered if Red knew. He had certainly been surprised at my outburst so it was possible he didn't know. I sat upright and glanced over at Red who was slumped in his chair, fast asleep.

It was hours before Red woke up and found me staring at him.

"Am I that interesting?" He asked sleepily. I laughed an obviously fake laugh.

"Where are we going today?" I said, trying to sound like I was interested.

"I'll tell you in two hours, we need to prepare first." He stood up. Perfect. I needed time. I'd never seen him fight so I didn't know how strong he was.

"Doing a lot of killing today, huh?" Flak smirked at me as I handed over 400 caps for a bunch of weapons and ammo.

"Not killing exactly." I replied vaguely and went to sit down to eat and think. It had only been an hour. I started to have second thoughts. Would I really do that to my brother? His ability would be useful. I couldn't take it away from him just because it annoyed me. Yes I could. In the wasteland there was no time for compassion. I'd learnt that the hard way.

"Hey... Vex is it?" Diego waved his hand in front of my face. I snapped back to reality and smiled at him.

"Yeah, do you need anything?" I asked in a friendly manner. Diego wasn't that bad, even if his religion meant he wasn't as... free as other people.

"I was just wondering, who's that guy with bright red hair? He walks around here like he's lived here his entire life. Like he knows everything about this place." Diego sat opposite me.

"He's a relative. I can't really explain the rest of it. It's complicated." I summarised. "So how are things between you and Angela?" I asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Ugh, she's being persistent. If she wasn't so young then yeah, maybe things would be different. But she's like a little child who can't get what she wants." Diego complained. I listened carefully. Like a lot of other people I just could not resist gossip.

"Be strong Diego, imagine what would happen if it got out. She might give up eventually, realise she was being delusional." I tried to reassure him. He smiled softly at me and went off to his church. Another half an hour had passed. I decided I'd go to the hotel room and wait to prepare myself mentally. I paced up and down the room. What felt like hours went by until Red returned to the room.

"We're going to Vault 87 today." Red informed me. I was waiting for the perfect moment. He had his back turned to me and was looking through drawers. I lifted up the baseball bat I'd bought and before I could talk myself out of it, swung at him. I hit him on the head and he fell straight to the floor. I instantly regretted it. I threw the bat aside and crouched down beside him.

"What have I done?" I whispered to myself. I checked his pulse. He was still alive. I hadn't killed him. I picked him up and put him on the bed. I only focused on not crying. I was not going to be so weak. I needed to learn to hurt people I liked without feeling bad. That was not going to help me in anyway. The door was still open and I saw Butch walk past. I jumped up and tackled him to the ground.

"Hey Vex, wouldn't "hey" work?" Butch said when he'd recovered from the shock of what I'd done. He pushed me off him and I tried to smile.

"I've done something terrible." I blurted out. I had a plan of what to say but it had all gone now.

"What have you done?" He asked warily as we stood in the corridor. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead I leant against him and cried onto his shoulder. He didn't know what to do at first but eventually he hugged me tightly. It took quite a long time but I eventually calmed down.

We walked back to the room and I explained everything that had happened. Even some stuff I never planned to tell him. Red was still unconscious and it had been two hours already. When I'd said everything we just sat in silence. Both of us waiting for something, anything to happen. Then it did. Finally Red woke up.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." I apologised profusely the minute his eyes opened.

"I'm glad you are." Red muttered and rubbed the back of his head.

"I-I don't know why I did it." I knelt on the floor so I was eye level with him.

"Neither do I, though I suspect that you were trying to remove my future telling abilities." He guessed. I didn't want to say it so I just nodded.

"Why don't you and Butch go elsewhere for a bit? I am going to sleep." Red suggested to us.

"Yeah, shall we?" I turned to Butch and he nodded. We walked together to the marketplace and sat down at one of the tables by Gary's Galley.

"Well at least I know not to mess with you." Butch said.

"Yeah you'd better not or I will not be responsible for what I do to your pretty little face." I smirked. He laughed and then Angela came over to serve us.

"Can I get you anything?" Angela smiled at us. More at Butch who returned it. I slouched in my chair as they talked. And flirted. I don't know why but I was annoyed at the two of them. We did get free food though which is always good.

"Hey what's up?" Butch asked with a mouth full of food.

"I don't know. A lot of things." I shrugged and pushed the food away from me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked uncomfortably. He was just asking to be polite.

"You're not interested. I'm going to check on Red, I'll see you some other time." I sighed and walked off to the room, hoping Butch would follow after me. He didn't. No one ever seemed to follow me or chase me. They would just let me go, absorbed with other, more important things.

Red was asleep in the bed so it was my turn to sleep in the chair which I must admit was quite comfortable. I needed to sort out who was important to me. I also needed to stop thinking I can have "normal" relationships with people. That just wasn't happening.

Maybe it'd be better if I was alone. The Lone Wanderer once more.

**Yeah, chapter three blah blah blah. I wrote about half of this in school so it might be a bit off. I didn't have access to the rest of the story and it was sunny and I don't like the sun. **

**Also, I really have no schedule for uploading chapters, whenever I have an idea I write. I try and write all of these in one sitting in case I forget everything. I have also not yet made the mistake I always make which makes me discontinue stories when I plan ahead so I get bored writing the bits in between.**

**Fallout and all that stuff belong to Bethesda and/or whoever else.**

**I own Vex and Red. They are figments of my own imagination.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	4. Kidnapped

I didn't know what to do the next day. Red wasn't well enough to do anything next day and I was still a bit miffed with Butch. I knew I was overreacting but I wasn't going to weaken and apologise first, I'd spent my entire life doing that.

"Go do something instead of moping around here. I'm not going to spontaneously combust while you're not here." Red said to reassure me. I was staying there just in case but I guess I could go. I had a lot more stuff to sell and I could go looting again which I loved. There were always Raiders that needed killing.

"I'll be in Megaton, if you need to contact me for any reason then email Moira at Craterside supply." I told him and wrote it down in case he forgot. As I left the building I had an uneasy feeling I just couldn't shift. After I'd fast-travelled I went straight to Craterside supply and Moira greeted me with a comforting smile.

"Hey there, got anything for me?" Moira asked eagerly.

"A couple of things I don't need." I handed her some of my stuff, including the baseball bat I'd used to attack Red with. I was glad to be rid of it.

"Where are you off to next?" Moira asked when she'd paid me for the things.

"I don't know. Are there any Raider camps around?" I sighed and rubbed my eyes tiredly even though I'd slept all night.

"Not really but if you're looking for stuff there's a scavenger outpost not far from here, about ten minutes due west." Moira informed me. I held my wrist out to here and asked her to mark it on my Pip-Boy map.

"Well I'll go there then. I'll be back in about two hours, tell me if Red messages me, don't ask me to explain, just tell me if there are. Message me on my Pip-Boy if necessary." I told her and left the shop. I walked out of the town and followed the map marker. I had a laser rifle ready but I was mostly undisturbed apart from the occasional mole rat or vicious dog. I soon spotted a wooden shack that I assumed was the outpost. I then realised Moira hadn't told me if anyone still occupied it. I hoped there was no one there, then I could just take stuff freely without killing anyone.

I pushed the wooden door open and it creaked loudly. It was dark and dusty in there but unoccupied. I used a chair to hold the door open so I would have some light. I took everything I deemed useful and worth something. I was so engrossed with rifling through boxes and crates I didn't notice footsteps behind me until I was suddenly hit on the back of the head. I fell to the floor and began to lose conscious rapidly. The last thing I remembered was a laugh. A cruel, sadistic laugh.

I couldn't see anything when I awoke. My arms were tied to something and my legs were both dead. I couldn't move anything. The only thing I could do was blink. I wasn't gagged or anything but my mouth was numb. All noises were muffled and I had no awareness of anything other than my thoughts. Even though I was scared my heart was beating slowly, as if I was asleep. I didn't know what I could do. Then I heard a beeping. It was loud over everything else. It took me a few moments to realise that it was my Pip-Boy. I was starting to regain my hearing slightly because I heard someone speaking.

"Wake up, you're alive, you've got to wake up." They said. The last thing said reminded me of what Amata said when she woke up me so I could escape. I concentrated on opening my eyes firstly. It took a lot of effort but I managed to do it. There was a young man sitting opposite me, I didn't know where we were.

"Oh thank goodness. I'm Lewis, we've both been kidnapped. I think by slavers." Lewis, the young man informed me. He looked like the kind of person who would be a slave, very young, about fifteen. He had quite a posh voice, like someone who'd been raised in Tenpenny tower.

"Where are we?" I asked. My voice was slurred because of the numbness of my mouth. I didn't have my armour or weapons or anything. These slavers probably had all my good stuff. Apart from my Pip-Boy. It was almost literally attached to me.

"That I don't know. We've been in this place for about half an hour." Lewis informed me. I looked up at where my arms were tied. They were tied to a pole with rope. I shifted around until I could reach the very badly done knot with my mouth. It was easy to undo it using my teeth. My arms flopped limply by my sides. I had some feeling in my legs, enough to stand up. I walked, well lumbered, over to Lewis and undid the rope tying him up. He had been here longer than me so he could move properly.

"Thank you for that. Now, do you have any bobby pins?" Lewis smiled gratefully at me. I checked the pockets of the shorts I wore underneath my amour along with a vest. I just so happened to have one and I placed it in his hand. He walked to a large cupboard and carefully picked the lock. He was skilled in it and the large padlock fell to the ground with a large crash. He flung the doors opened and practically had to dress me in my armour and then took his stuff. I could use my arms again and held my combat shotgun tightly.

"What now?" I said. I could speak properly now.

"We wait. We need to catch these people by surprise, like they did to us." Lewis said seriously. He took position by the door and I was in the corner, where it was darkest. We were waiting a long time until finally I heard footsteps. The door was unlocked and slowly opened. The first person who walked through was killed by Lewis who leant around the corner, shot and went back to hiding. The second person was dispatched by me making a massive hole in his chest with my shotgun. We quickly ran out of the door, me in front with Lewis tailing behind. We were running through a rather large building and we had to rest at point.

"I just-need to catch-my-breath." Lewis breathed heavily and sat down on the floor. I took this time to check my Pip-Boy map. We were not the far away from Paradise Falls, the main slaver headquarters.

"We just need to get out of this building, then we can fast-travel somewhere safer." I told him. He nodded and smiled weakly. I smiled back. He was the sort of boy I'd have a crush on if I were five years younger. The thoughts going through my mind were wrong in so many ways. He was still a child whilst I was an adult.

"Okay, I'm ready... what is your name?" Lewis stood up and we walked at slower pace.

"I'm Vex, from Vault 101." I said as my normal introduction to everyone.

"Alright then Vex, let's get out of here." He smiled brightly and ran again. This time it was me following after him. There weren't any more slavers, only random creatures that we just ignored. We finally got out of the building but I couldn't fast-travel. It had been disabled as had a lot of features on my Pip-Boy. I would have to get it repaired when we actually got somewhere.

"The nearest place is Arefu, I've been there before so it should be okay." I sighed as we walked through the wasteland. It had gotten dark now and the two of us were tired. It took hours for us to get there but Evan King was still on look out.

"Hi, what do you need?" Evan asked. I was barely managing to keep my eyes open.

"Sleep, anywhere, please." I said wearily.

"Of course, it'll have to be the West's residence but we've cleared it out." He offered. "Is this for you and your young friend?" I nodded and Lewis was leaning against me. Evan handed me the key to the West's old house. I walked to it, unlocked the door after five attempts and locked it again behind us. It was odd staying in a house where you'd discovered dead people. Ian West had decided he didn't want to stay in his parents' house that he'd killed. I don't know where he went or if he was still alive.

"Oh thank goodness." Lewis fell onto the bed and sighed happily. There was only the one bed and Lewis had already made himself comfortable.

"I don't mind sharing. Honestly. It won't be weird will it?" Lewis suggested. His eyes were half closed but I could tell he was looking at me.

"O-okay then." I said uncertainly. I put my stuff aside and reluctantly took my armour off. It would be weird sharing a bed with a fifteen year old boy. I only then noticed that he was wearing a very faded vault jumpsuit. The number was too faded to tell what vault he was from.

"It'll be alright. Nothing's going to happen, right?" He sat upright with his legs crossed. I lay down on the bed looking up at him. He smiled softly at me and I returned it. I was trusting easily again.

"What do you think those slavers were going to do with us?" I asked. Though I was tired I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to talk and learn about the young man.

"Sell us, kill us, torture us or other things." Lewis sighed. He sounded quite calm about, like he was used to it.

"Where do you come from?" I closed my eyes and enjoyed the atmosphere of the room.

"I was raised in the Underworld. My parents were friends with the Ghouls there. They went out one day, looking for something to kill and they never came back. I was about four when that happened. I hated my parents." He told me.

"What was it like there?" I breathed deeply. My thoughts were still so wrong and were just getting worse, being so close to him.

"The Ghouls were nice, they liked me a lot. Well at least I think they did. I really need to go back to see them so they know I'm okay." He said. That was the last thing he said before we both fell asleep. It was a peaceful night. My dreams were especially nice but I needed to get rid of my fourteen year old imagination, I needed my adult mind back. But for the night I could enjoy it. Lewis would never have to know.

No one would ever know what I thought. No one would ever know what I dreamt about them.

**Is there a spot of romance in chapter four? There might be in later chapters, I haven't decided yet. Well for Vex anyway, I do have other romantic plans for other characters in the story.**

**This might be slightly off like last chapter because I wrote this while watching TV, namely Miranda and something about famous dances.**

**Fallout belongs to Bethesda, not me. If it belonged to me things would be very different.**

**Also, to my readers, would you want to see this story from any of the other characters points of view? To give a change from Vex. Also if you have any suggestions for this story I'm open to them though I probably won't listen to them. I'm a very stubborn person.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	5. Determination

I was awoken by the sound of my Pip-Boy beeping. I lifted it up to my face and stared blankly at it for a few moments before my eyes adjusted. When they had I pressed the buttons to check for messages, the beeping that woke me signified a message. I had two, one from Moira and the other from Red. They were sent as voice messages so I pressed the play button and listened to them as I got re-dressed.

"Hey there Vex, I hope you're okay you've been gone a lot longer than I thought you'd be. Red messaged you so I've sent it to your Pip-Boy. I haven't listened to it don't worry. Anyway, hope you're okay, bye." Moira's voice said. I was fully prepared by the end of the message so I sat down to listen to Red's.

"Vex where are you? Please come back soon, I'm fine but I'm really worried about you. I messaged that Moira person; she's a bit odd isn't she? That's all." Red's voice was so clear it was as if he was in the room. I looked over to the bed where Lewis was still asleep. It was morning now and we needed to set out. It didn't take much to wake him up; I just pushed him off the bed and that was enough.

"Huh, what's going on? Oh yeah, I remember. Why did you push me on the floor?" Lewis said after he'd pulled himself off the floor.

"I needed to wake you up." I smiled at him. Once we were both ready we left the house and I checked to see if my fast-travelling was working again and thankfully it was.

"Where are we going?" Lewis asked as I held his hand on top of my Pip-Boy so it realised that he was travelling with me.

"Megaton. I need to reassure a friend I'm not dead." I said as we were teleported to the gates of Megaton.

"That is cool. How did you get one of those?" Lewis looked at my Pip-Boy with great interest.

"Everyone gets one in the vault when they turn ten years old." I told him. We walked together to Craterside supply where the minute I walked in the door Moira flung her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"I was so worried and scared." She said. I had to prise her off of me.

"I'm fine, I'm always fine." I smiled softly. Lewis stood awkwardly in the background so I decided to introduce the two of them.

"Moira this is Lewis, Lewis this is Moira." I stepped back to reveal him looking quite shy but Moira being the ever friendly person she is immediately liked him.

"Hi it's good to see a new face around here. Where do you come from?" Moira smiled brightly.

"I'm from the Underworld." Lewis said quietly. I was confused as to why he was so shy; he was very bold with me. Maybe it was because I'd helped him escape from becoming a slave.

"Do you want to go back there or would you want to come with me to Rivet City?" I intervened in the conversation before it got awkward for all of us.

"I'll go with you if that's okay." Lewis said, talking normally now.

"I'd better be going then, Red was worried about me." I smiled apologetically at Moira and left. We fast-travelled to Rivet City and I pressed the button on the intercom and waited as the bridge was extended.

"Who's Red?" Lewis asked curiously. He tried to sound casual but there was a hint of jealousy coming through in his voice.

"My half-brother, don't worry." I patted him on the shoulder and we walked across the now extended bridge. I gave a small wave to Harkness who nodded at me. I went through the door on the left and guided Lewis through corridors until I got to the hotel room. I knocked on the door first and Red opened it.

"Oh my god, thank goodness." Red was nearly in tears and gave a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, something happened." I felt bad even though I shouldn't. I couldn't control being kidnapped.

"Don't worry. You're okay now. Who's this?" Red forced a smile on his face but he was shaking.

"This is Lewis; he was involved in the thing that happened." I introduced the two of them. Red held the door open wide for us to go inside. He closed the door behind us and leant against it, his eyes closed tight. Over the next hour I had to explain everything that had happened down to every last detail. I was exhausted at the end of it and decided to go see Butch who as always was in the Muddy Rudder. I took Lewis with me just because he didn't want to be left alone with Red whom he thought was weird.

"Hey Vex, I haven't seen you for a while." Butch commented as I sat down on the bar stool next to him. Lewis sat next to me and tried to stay as invisible as possible.

"Yeah, I've been... busy. Doesn't matter, how have you been?" I asked. I didn't want to have to explain everything again.

"Alright I guess. I was kind of worried about you thought." He said and for some reason I found myself blushing. With him that was a compliment. We talked for a while and I completely forgot about Lewis until I'd decided to leave.

"Who was that?" Lewis asked when we were on our way back to the hotel room.

"Just a friend." I said flippantly. I didn't really know how to describe Butch. I wasn't sure whether he was a friend or not.

"So that's it? Just a friend and nothing more?" Lewis sounded anxious. He was being very transparent.

"What's up? Are you jealous?" I said rather teasingly. He went bright red and mumbled something I didn't understand. We entered the hotel room where Red was just milling around doing nothing in particular.

"I hate being injured, it's so boring." Red yawned and stretched his arms out.

"Sorry about that, again. It could've been worse. I could've killed you." I said and both Red and I laughed. It had become a sort of inside joke between us. Lewis just looked uncomfortable. He really didn't like being around other people. Or maybe he didn't like me being friendly with other people because I had seen him talking to people normally while I was talking with Butch.

"Don't you like being around people?" I asked Lewis once Red had fallen asleep. We were sitting on the floor on our makeshift beds.

"What? I do like being around people, what makes you say that?" Lewis sounded confused. So my suspicions were confirmed.

"Well it's just when I was talking with Moira, Butch and Red you seemed really uncomfortable. Do you not like me being around other people?" I asked him the question I needed the answer to.

"Uh, well I- nothing, never mind, I'm just going to sleep." Lewis stammered and lay down on the floor. I sighed and lay down as well, staring up at the ceiling. There was something going on with Lewis. He was an odd young man and I was going to find out why.

Because when I set my mind on something, I do it and nothing will stand in my way.

**A mystery hm? What's going to happen? Well even I don't know that, seriously, I make this stuff up as I go along. Let me know what you think of it if you want, tell me if you understand what is going on as well because even though this makes sense to me some things might need a bit more explaining.**

**Fallout belongs to Bethesda, not me sadly.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	6. Discovering

"So what exactly are your intentions for my sister?" I overheard Red ask Lewis just as I was waking up. I decided to pretend to still be asleep so I could listen to the conversation.

"I have no idea what you mean." Lewis said innocently but Red obviously didn't believe him.

"You know exactly what I mean. Why would you follow her around and don't give me any crap about you wanting to pay her back for rescuing you because you're not that type of person." Red reputed.

"Maybe I do have intentions, like you have for Vex's friend Butch." Lewis sounded smug. I stayed as still as possible, my eyes shut tightly.

"What are you on about?" Red stammered.

"You know exactly what I mean." Lewis said almost mockingly. It was then that I interrupted the conversation by waking up.

"Good morning you two, anything happened?" I smiled broadly at them. Neither of them smiled back. The atmosphere was incredibly tense; you could almost feel the awkward. I wasn't going to sit there in silence so I got dressed and equipped and left quickly. It was getting hard to find things to do and I didn't want to go exploring after what had happened. I don't know why but I wanted to go and see the vault, just to look at it and remember it.

I stood outside the metal door that led to the tunnel which led to the actual vault door. I ran my finger across the cold bars of the door; I shivered at the touch and the memories that flooded back. I wondered what would happen if I tried to re-enter. Before I could convince myself otherwise I opened the door and walked through the carved rock tunnel and went to the control panel. Amata would have changed the password and if I entered the wrong password three times it would sound an alarm.

I decided it wasn't worth it. I'd just be thrown out or attacked, forcing me to kill them. I sighed and walked back out into the Wasteland, feeling depressed once more. It was time for me to give up on Vault 101; it would never be my home again no matter how much I wanted to believe it. I then chose to visit the Underworld; at least the Ghouls there respected me. I fast-travelled and looked up at the impressive entrance to the Museum of History. I couldn't see Willow, who normally guards the entrance anywhere but I assumed she was off doing something. I walked inside and looked around at all the ancient artefacts people of two hundred years ago would marvel at.

I pushed open the great doors and walked in, Ghouls turned their heads to look at me, all looking hopeful, then disappointed.

"Where's Lewis, where is he?" Winthrop asked me aggressively.

"H-he's at Rivet City, I think." I recoiled, afraid he would attack me. He wasn't content with that.

"What about Charon, huh?" He pinned me up against the door.

"I don't know." I said. I did know though. He was dead, lying on the floor in some metro. We had been ambushed by Super Mutants and I accidently shot him, in my defence he walked in front of my gun.

"Bring Lewis back to us alive and you can come in. Bring him back dead and you'll join him." Winthrop threatened me and let me go. I scrabbled for the door handle and hurried out of the museum as fast as I could. I leant against the door once I was outside and breathed deeply. My heart was pounding and I jumped when my Pip-Boy beeped. I brought it up to my face and only then realised I was shaking all over. Before I saw what was new I fast-travelled to Rivet City and while waiting for the bridge to extend I checked my message. It was thirty seconds of silence and it didn't say who it was from. I walked across the now extended bridge to the hotel room, hoping I could just relax.

I could hear someone crying in the room, I braced myself for whatever was going on as I opened the door. I was surprised when I saw that it was Red who was crying.

"What's wrong? Red what happened?" I asked concernedly.

"I don't care how you do it but you've got to kill Lewis." Red grabbed hold of my hands and looked at me seriously.

"Why, explain what's happened." I asked again, looking him in the eyes.

"He'll have you killed, everything was planned. He organised that kidnapping. I managed to find that out from him before he..." Red stopped and looked down at the floor. It was a few moments before he spoke again.

"Just kill him and make sure he suffers." Red finished. I nodded and left the room. Red could easily be lying but I wanted to kill him, a sudden bloodlust taking over me. I bumped into him in the corridor, he seemed to be on a similar mission to me.

"Lewis, you have to go back to the Underworld something terrible has happened." I said. He believed me and we walked out of Rivet City, me following behind him suppressing a grin.

"Can you come with me?" Lewis asked, looking terrified. As he turned to face me I held my laser pistol up to his head.

"Any last words?" I asked. He was calm as he reached for his gun. We were deadlocked.

"I'm sorry, your brother knows too much. And you need to die." Lewis had a cold expression as two gunshots were fired. Both of us cried out in pain, both of us having been shot in the leg.

"You explain everything now!" I ignored the pain as I crawled on top of him and restrained him, clenching my jaw to distract myself.

"I've been hired to do this." Lewis shouted back at me. He pushed me off him and ran-well limped off. I didn't bother chasing after him. I just lay there, in pain.

"Vex are you- oh god." Red walked through the side door.

"He ran off before I could kill him." I said through gritted teeth. Red helped me walk back to the room and this time it was me who was being looked after.

Now I had another quest to go on, as if I wasn't busy enough.

**I don't really have anything to say about this chapter but I do just want to say, if you do read this would you mind letting me know? You don't have to but I'd like it.**

**Fallout belongs to Bethesda.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	7. Destruction

Now I knew why Red hated being injured so much. Having someone fuss over you whilst you couldn't do a thing, not very pleasant. It took nearly a week before I could walk properly, Red didn't want to take me to a doctor but I guess we both had a reason not to trust people.

"This is boring, when can we do stuff?" I complained as we walked through the market. We didn't want to buy or sell anything, Red just wanted to see how well I could walk.

"What then? I'm guessing you don't want to go exploring or anything." Red asked sounding irritated. He was right though, I had no idea what I wanted to do.

"I don't know. What are you doing today?" I folded my arms. I would go crazy if I was stuck inside another day.

"I've got business to attend to, you do whatever you like." Red sighed. I looked at my Pip-Boy map for somewhere to go, to think. I was drawn to the top of the map, The Republic of Dave stood out as it was now empty after I... cleared it out.

"Alright then, I've got something to do. I'll see you tonight." I smiled at Red and walked out of Rivet City and fast-travelled to The Republic of Dave. I unlocked the gates using the key I stole. I stole a lot of stuff. I locked the gate after me, just in case and looked around. The quiet atmosphere made me forget about the dead bodies on the floor.

I went inside the main building and immediately went to the swivel chair and sat down and did what no one can resist and spun around. I spun until everything blurred, laughing to myself. I stopped once I felt I was about to vomit and stood up, resting on the desk until the world stopped spinning. When it had I went around rooting through boxes and whatnot to find anything I missed. I was in a hurry to leave the last time I was there. I only then noticed a safe which I definitely missed last time; I took out my bobby pin case which was actually an empty mentats case.

It took twenty minutes to unlock the safe, about halfway through I wondered if it was worth it or not but if it was in a locked safe then it must be good. Inside was a unique hunting rifle, it had been modified to reload quicker and probably do more damage. I didn't have use for a hunting rifle but it could always be useful, I could sell it if necessary. I had taken everything from the Republic of Dave so I decided to just enjoy the quiet. It was something I wasn't used to but I liked. After my not so brief detour I went back to Rivet City, I wasn't sure how long I'd been at the Republic of Dave but it was starting to get dark and Red was waiting for me.

"So how has your day been?" Red asked friendlily. He was waiting at the entrance to Rivet City, talking with Harkness.

"Okay, hey do you mind if we go to Megaton? I have to pick some stuff up." I asked. He didn't mind but went to the hotel room to collect all his stuff. I waited outside, watching the sun set. I wondered what it looked like before the Great War. A lot nicer I'm guessing, in pre-war books I'd read it always described the sky as being blue. It was hard to imagine it like that, looking so pure and beautiful.

"Let's go then." Red's voice snapped me back to reality. I smiled perhaps a bit too much at him and held his hand on my Pip-Boy and fast-travelled to Megaton. I looked at it and screamed. It was nothing more than a crater and rubble. Someone had reactivated and detonated the bomb.

"No, no this can't be real." I said quietly. Red held me by the arms, probably to stop me running in to it.

"Vex, stop struggling." He shouted at me. I fell to my knees, my head in my hands and cried. Red crouched next to me and patted me on the back. It wasn't fair. It was my home and it had been destroyed, ruined. I'd lost everything. Again.

"Vex I'm sorry, maybe we'd better leave." Red said sympathetically. He was right. We should leave but I couldn't. I didn't want to abandon my home. I then thought about all the people. They were all dead. Moira was dead.

"It's not fair, why does this always happen to me?" I stood up, filled with anger and hurt. I would kill whoever did it. I would make them suffer. No one would stop me. I tried to think who could have done it and one name, one face came to mind.

"Lewis, I bet it was him. I'm going to kill him." I turned to Red. Maybe he knew who did it; he could see the future after all.

"You do that. If you accomplish one thing it will be to kill that waste of space." Red agreed with me.

"Let's go. I think I know where he'll be." I marched away from the crater. Partially due to the radiation that was coming off of it. I fast-travelled Red and I to the Underworld. I stomped into the building, Red following after me, both of us on the same mission. I pushed open the heavy doors to the Underworld, everyone turning to look at us.

"What do you want smoothskin?" Winthrop asked. He wasn't attacking me so I assumed Lewis had returned.

"Where is Lewis?" I shouted, my voice echoing. The only detectable emotion I had was anger, pure, unbridled anger.

"He's with Doctor Barrows." Winthrop told me, not sounding interested in what I wanted or even noticing the tone of my voice. I walked up the stairs and to The Chop Shop. I stopped as I got to the door. I couldn't kill him in front of everybody, they'd all turn hostile.

"We'll get him when he's on his own." Red whispered into my ear, reading my mind almost. Though he probably had. I breathed deeply and opened the door. It was empty. No one was in there.

"Where the hell is he?" I yelled. It was a rhetorical question but Red still answered.

"Must've left. He's not as stupid as you think he is. He knew we'd come looking for him, knew we'd come here. Where else could he have gone?" Red was right. I thought hard. He said he'd been hired by someone to kill me. That would make him a mercenary.

"Fort Bannister. He's a mercenary; he said he was hired to kill me. He might be there." I suggested. It wasn't the best plan to go attack the main Talon Company headquarters but it was a start. He would have to walk there; he didn't have a Pip-Boy to fast-travel with. We could get him on the way there.

"We've got to go now." I grabbed Red's arm and pulled him along with me. I'd marked Fort Bannister on my map and we started our rather long journey there.

"He could have fast-travelled there you know." Red mentioned as we walked.

"How, he'd need a Pip-Boy." I replied. As far as I knew I was the only person out in the Wasteland who had one, I came from a vault.

"Think, who else is from a vault and is out here and has met Lewis." Red stopped walking. I stopped as well.

"Butch, he has a Pip-Boy. We need to go to Rivet City." A thousand horrible situations went through my mind. I only hoped none of them were true. When we got to Rivet City I went straight to the Muddy Rudder. My heart beat quickly as I got closer to it. He wasn't there. Lewis had either killed him or kidnapped him. Neither of those were good especially if he'd taken him to the mercenary HQ. This was bad. Very bad.

"What do we do?" I turned to Red for help. I couldn't think straight. Everything had gone so wrong in such a short space of time. He was the only one who could help me in this situation.

"I don't know." Red looked worriedly at me. If he didn't know then... then what. People called me the saviour of the Wasteland but I was more like the destroyer. How many people had died because of me? How many lives had I destroyed? It was better if no one was around me. It would be better if I was dead.

I could save the Wasteland but I couldn't save myself.

**This is a new record for me. And this is my first chapter written to music, a lot of music. Well only the second half of this. I was only listening to music because my dad was watching Glastonbury on the TV and as good as they are you can only listen to so much of the Rolling Stones.**

**I changed the title of this story because I felt it was more fitting. And because I was thinking of changing the title while listening to music on the school bus and I was listening to the Mamma Mia soundtrack and The Winner Takes It All was on so yeah, that's that. **

**I also found out I have the most random music on my hard drive. Well I'm going to redraft the summary for this story for about the seventh time. I will get it right one day. I might just use the last line of this chapter for the basis of it. That's probably my favourite quote from this story.**

**Oh, the cover image for this isn't mine I just found it somewhere. It doesn't belong to me and neither does Fallout, Bethesda owns that.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	8. Replacing

Why was I here? What I was doing was pointless. Yet here I was, at the Megaton ruins trying desperately to find something, anything. I couldn't stay for long; the radiation being given off was dangerous. And Red would find out soon enough. I'd snuck out during the night, we decided to stay in the Underworld because "it was for the best" according to Red. As I threw bits of debris aside I was on alert. My heart beat quickly as I threw part of a wall away and I found a body. I don't know who. There were no distinguishable features. I tried my hardest to ignore it and continue with the job at hand.

"Hey there, what are you doing?" A familiar voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw the somewhat familiar ghoulified face of Moira Brown.

"Moira... you're alive!" I jumped off of the ruins and ran to her excitedly. I tried to ignore the fact she was now horrendously ugly.

"What are you doing here? What happened to this place?" Moira asked and looked at the rubble sadly. I had to explain to her that her home had been destroyed, because of me.

"Someone reactivated the atomic bomb and detonated it. And you are a ghoul now." I told her. I held my Pip-Boy up to her face so she could look at her reflection in the glass.

"Oh dear that's so awful. Where can I go now? Where can I stay?" Moira looked on the verge of tears.

"Come with me, I'll take you to the Underworld where ghouls stay." I suggested and her face lit up. She nodded eagerly and I fast-travelled to the entrance in front of the Museum of History. I walked inside with Moira trailing behind. I instructed her to walk through the second set of doors and she did then I left. I wasn't finished at Megaton.

Back at the ruins, I continued sifting through the debris until I found something else of interest. I was careful to clear everything out of the way first and then pulled out Wadsworth. He wasn't too badly damaged so I could repair him. I felt compelled to have him in whatever home I had. The one familiar thing in my new messed up world. I went to Rivet City and paid to have the hotel room as mine forever. I dropped Wadsworth on the floor which made a large bang. I looked at everything to see what I would have to do to get him back to full working order.

After thirty minutes of looking I had deducted that just with a little bit of tinkering he would be fine. The marketplace was closed now so I'd have to wait until morning and since I was too lazy to go back to the Underworld I stayed the night there. In my new home. I thought back to when I settled into my first Wasteland home.

**/Flashback\**

"_Well I'll be damned, you disarmed that thing. Here's your reward, hell why don't you move in." Lucas Simms said sounding genuinely impressed with me and handed me one hundred caps and a key. I had just disarmed the atomic bomb that Megaton had built itself around, thus securing the safety of the citizens, well safety from the bomb exploding._

"_Where is this house?" I asked holding the key tightly. A smile broke out onto my face, I would have a home. Somewhere I could call my own._

"_Go up the steps there and it's to your right." Lucas informed me and I went in those very directions and came across the house. I unlocked the door with my key and warily pushed the door open; unaware of what state it was in. I pleasantly surprised to find it to be a normal house. I was greeted by a robot._

"_Good morning madam, I am Wadsworth, your personal robotic butler." The robot introduced itself._

"_Good morning Wadsworth, my name is Vex but call me madam. It sounds so fancy." My smile widened. I wouldn't be alone in my new home. This was getting better and better. I looked around and saw a bobble head stand. I took out the medicine bobble head I'd stolen from dad's desk when I was sixteen and placed it on one of the little podiums. I put all my random junk I didn't need but didn't want to sell into various lockers._

"_Madam seems sad, is there anything I can do?" Wadsworth asked. I shook my head. I wasn't sad just... nostalgic. Though life wasn't great in the Vault, it was and always would be my home. I was replacing it so soon._

"_Madam is not sad. Madam just needs to go and do something." I said slightly mockingly of the way Wadsworth talked but he didn't pick up on it. I walked out of the house and out of Megaton and walked down the path I walked down terrified just a few hours ago and stood in front of the Vault. It wasn't my home anymore. I had been driven out of it. I'd always remember it though. I'd remember it as the place I called home for nineteen years and nothing could change that._

**/End of flashback\**

I woke up and sighed softly. I couldn't go to either of my homes now. It was a sad state of affairs but there was no time to dwell. I had to go pick up a few parts to mend my robotic butler. It took a lot of haggling and persuading but I managed to get all of them. I didn't know their names but I could describe them enough. I spent the next three hours swearing, throwing things across the room and hitting things with a hammer but I finally finished it and I felt accomplished. I connected the last two wires, screwed the panels back on and waited. Slowly he booted up and was back, floating in the air.

"Good afternoon madam Vex. I see we are in a different place." Wadsworth commented. Oh how I'd missed his posh voice.

"Megaton's been destroyed. I rescued you from the rubble and brought you here, to Rivet City." I informed him. I wiped sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand and looked proudly at him. It was three hours well spent.

"That is most unfortunate. I assume you want me to look after this place while you are away, correct?" He asked.

"That is correct. I'll try not to be away too much. I'm tired of this "saviour of the Wasteland" lark." I sat down. It was true. I then remembered Red.

"Go do what you must; I shall wait here for your return." Wadsworth seemed to read my mind. I smiled gratefully and fast-travelled to the Underworld once I was outside. I rushed inside and ran up to where Red had chosen to stay the night.

"Where the hell did you go?" Red exploded as I burst through the doors. He looked extremely angry. He wasn't this angry when I'd tried to kill him.

"I went to Megaton. I had to do something." I said. He was still angry as if my response was not good enough.

"You could've told me." He yelled. I glared at him and yelled back.

"You're not my mother or my father!" I stormed out of the room and out of the building. I was a grown woman, why did I need to tell my brother if I was going out? The good part of me told me that it was because he cared about me and that I should hold onto him. He could be the last person who cares about me on Earth. But I was tired of being good all the time, I hated it. I shouldn't have to be good. No one would care if I was good or bad.

No one cared anymore, it was time I joined them.

**After being distracted by something shiny I'm back with chapter whatever this is. I actually wrote this chapter twice but didn't like the first one so, yeah.**

**First little section was written in school, before I broke up for summer holidays which I love right now, it's great fun. The ending, not so great but as I mention a lot I am really lazy with endings.**

**Also, I will continue Him but I really want to get back into writing this first.**

**And I'm thinking about changing the title again, what would you think of "The Name of The Game" instead? If you have other title suggestions I'm open to hearing them.**

**Everything belongs to its rightful owner.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	9. Betrayl

I wasn't going to give up right away; I still had some unfinished business with what I had taken to calling "The Lewis Situation". I knew I couldn't just barge into the talon company headquarters; I'd get slaughtered so I had to think up a plan.

"So what am I going to do?" I asked rhetorically to Wadsworth, he wouldn't know I just thought that it might help me think to speak.

"May I suggest something, madam?" Wadsworth asked. I had no other ideas so I listened to what he had to say. "Perhaps finding this person alone would be easier, they would have to go outside at some point."

"That's a good suggestion, thank you. Let's just hope I can be patient enough to see this through." I picked up my combat shotgun and set out, waving goodbye to Wadsworth before I closed the door and locked it. Lewis had said he was assigned to kill me so he'd have to be looking for me so we were bound to bump into each other at some point. It was just a matter of when and where.

"You tell me if he comes here, okay." I informed Harkness just as I left Rivet City. I needed to track his movements so I could get him when he least expects it.

"Of course Vex, good luck." Harkness simply nodded at me and I saluted. He sort of smiled and then I went off to find Lewis. I wasn't going to tell Red even though he would probably help me because he seemed to hate Lewis as much as I did, maybe more. No, there was something I had to tell Red. I might not save the Wasteland but he still could.

"I'm not going to argue with you Vex, if you don't want to then it's up to me." Red sighed when I told him what I was doing now. I don't know why he wanted me to do it so much; he would be getting all the glory now.

"I'll see you around then, brother." I shook his hand and left, knowing that moment could be the last time I ever saw him. He had his mission and I had mine. I decided not to fast-travel anywhere but to walk. I was the lone wanderer again, the stuff of legends, the person who walked through the Wasteland bringing death and destruction behind her, never staying, always on the move. Hearing about this person on the radio was different to being her.

I was relatively undisturbed apart from the creatures that infested every part of the wastes. It was as I neared Rivet City that something interesting happened. I saw someone walking across the bridge and instead of going through the marketplace like most people did they went straight for the stairwell. I hurried up the stairs and across the bridge after them; I had an idea of who it could be though it was possible I was wrong.

I ran through the corridors to my room when I saw him, well the back of him. I tackled him to the ground and stared him in the face.

"Lewis I am going to kill you." I said in a low whisper. I didn't want other people getting suspicious, killing was frowned upon here.

"I think you'll find that's my job." Lewis said somewhat humorously. He didn't comprehend how serious I was or he just wasn't afraid.

"I'm serious but first I want answers, why did you destroy Megaton?" I asked through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to just shoot him there and then.

"The answer is simple: I didn't. I had nothing to gain by destroying Megaton; it wouldn't help me kill you which is all I am here to do." Lewis said calmly. If he didn't destroy it then who did?

"Okay then, next question, why do you want to kill me?" I asked. I was still trying to get hold of the fact that someone else blew Megaton up.

"I've been hired by the Enclave to stop you activating the purifier." He explained. How was he so calm about this?

"I'm not going to anymore, anyway. That's Red's duty now." I told him. I'd have one less thing to worry about now.

"Then I have to kill Red now. Say, how about you help me?" Lewis suggested with an evil glint in his eyes. I had the same one in mine.

"It's a deal." I let him go and we shook hands on it. I felt guilty about it already but I could worry about it later, after I'd done what I had to.

"I have a good feeling about this." He stood up and I did too. With any luck Red would still be at the Underworld. We went there firstly only to find that he'd gone already. But I knew where. He needed to escort Doctor Li to the Citadel, wherever that was. If we found that quickly enough we could intercept him.

"Do you know where the Citadel is?" I turned to Lewis and asked. He grabbed my Pip-Boy and marked it out on the map. It wasn't terribly far from where we were but we needed to be quick.

"Let's go then." He said rather excitedly. We ran most of the way, ignoring most enemies but killing those that were persistent. Everything seemed to be a blur, most of it forgotten by the time the Citadel was in sight. And I could see him with some other people. They were close to the Citadel so we needed to get their attention before they got any closer and the Brotherhood of Steel noticed us.

We got their attention and stopped them by shooting one of the people. They all went to see what happened and then Red turned to look at us. He said something to Doctor Li then ran towards us.

"What the hell are you doing Vex?" He yelled at me then saw Lewis.

"I know exactly what I'm doing." I pointed my shotgun at him. In retrospect it would've been easier to just shoot him and leave but I'm stupid like that.

"You had so much potential; you were supposed to be a hero. You were supposed to be the one whose name was passed down in history, remembered forever, immortalised in memory." Red looked so disappointed in me that I felt bad and I lowered my gun. I stood in between the two of them, unsure of whom to side with.

"Just kill him and this will all be over." Lewis encouraged me. I looked at both of them and was torn. I couldn't decide and didn't want to. I wanted this to all be over. If I killed Red I would be remembered in history, as the person who prevented the rebirth of civilisation of the Wasteland.

"Vex you know what's right and wrong, do what's right like you have your entire life. Stop letting the Wasteland contaminate you, you're a good person." Red shouted so I heard him loud and clear. The problem was they were both right. I wanted what both of them were offering but I couldn't. If I had just stayed in the Vault none of this would've happened. I would never have seen dad die and I wouldn't be in this situation. I would be living in blissful ignorance.

I wasn't going to make the decision; I was going to let them sort it out themselves. I lifted my Pip-Boy up and fast-travelled to Rivet City. I would never see either of them again hopefully. I could pretend they were both alive. Or I could pretend they were both dead. I went to my room and sat in silence.

What had I done?

**Not much to say about this other than it was written while listening to music. **

**Everything belongs to its rightful owner.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


	10. Protecting

**/Flashback\**

"_Violence is never the right answer, sweetie. You could've gotten hurt although judging by the way you fought you had nothing to worry about." Dad told me off after I'd gotten into yet another fight with Butch DeLoria. There was nothing I could say to redeem myself, I purposely upset him and then hit him. We couldn't look at each other without someone getting hurt and living in the Vault that happened often._

"_I'm sorry, dad." I mumbled and blushed. I didn't want him to be angry at me and though he was trying to stay light-hearted I knew I was trying his patience._

"_So you should be but I'm not the person you should be apologising to." He looked at me knowingly. I sighed and stomped out of the room. While I was searching for him, Amata skipped over to me._

"_Hi, where are you off to?" Amata asked, smiling brightly. I scowled at her, not in the mood for her cheeriness._

"_Somewhere." I grumbled and pushed past her. I spotted Butch with his friends and called out his name._

"_What do you want?" Butch turned to face me, his nose was swollen and he had several scratches and bruises on his face. I hadn't realised I'd hurt him so much._

"_I have to apologise, so sorry for beating you up." I said insincerely._

"_You didn't beat me up." He said defiantly. This could only go in one direction yet I decided to follow it._

"_Your face says otherwise." I laugh-snorted. Wally Mack and Paul Hannon behind him grinned at it, it was funny but Butch was not in a laughing mood._

"_When are you going to take your Ghoul mask off, huh?" He retorted. It was a weak insult but Wally and Paul laughed like it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. I decided that I'd followed the path enough and pushed Butch aside and walked past them, well tripped because Wally stuck his foot out. I stormed off and walked the long way to the infirmary where dad was typing something at his terminal._

"_Did you apologise?" Dad asked me when I walked in, not looking up from what he was doing._

"_Yes I did." I pulled up a chair and sat on the opposite side of dad's desk._

"_You're a good person and you'll do good things one day, don't you forget that."_

**/End of flashback\**

I don't know why I dreamed of that moment. Normally, my dreams were mundane or nonexistent but that dream was so vivid. I wasn't sure of what my sub-conscious mind was trying to teach me, the last sentence dad said to me stuck out but as a twelve year old girl at the time, I wasn't paying attention so I probably misheard him. It was dark in my room but that was to be expected, there were no windows, the lights were off and the door was closed. I could hear Wadsworth hovering in the far corner because it was quite loud and I couldn't sleep. I sat upright in bed and yawned loudly to inform Wadsworth I was awake.

"Good morning madam, are you well?" Wadsworth asked and moved from his corner and to the middle of the room.

"Yeah, I'm just super." I said tiredly and with a dose of sarcasm. I was anything but well; I still worried about the consequences of my actions when I dealt with the Red-Lewis situation. It had been a week since then and I hadn't heard from either but I doubted I would. It was for the best that I distanced myself from them.

"From madam's tone I'm guessing that you are not super." Wadsworth deducted. I could've replied with more sarcasm but I didn't have the energy or the will to do so. I was probably going to have another day of moping about Rivet City, not talking to anyone and then going back to bed and repeating the same process the next day.

"I'll see you whenever." I said to Wadsworth wearily once I'd gotten ready for the day. I wasn't wearing my armour and equipped with all sorts of weapons like usual, I was just wearing some old pre-war clothes with no weaponry. I spent two hours in the Muddy Rudder, sitting at the bar drinking and ignoring people and then went back to my room. My life was going downhill fast and I could easily do something to remedy it but I didn't seem to want to. I was giving up so easily. I was being a coward.

"Madam, why don't you do something?" Wadsworth suggested. He was being thoughtful but I wasn't in the right frame of mind.

"Why don't you shut up?" I yelled at him, surprising both of us. "I am sick and tired of you acting like your better than me, you're a robot. You act like you understand but it's just programming, you don't have thoughts or feelings and you never will." I was breathing heavily after my outburst. We both knew most of what I said wasn't true, he wasn't acting anything but I brought alight to the fact he didn't have thoughts or feelings.

"Madam I do apologise." His electronic voice made it sound as though he didn't mean it but he really did.

"And stop calling me madam." I grabbed my combat shotgun from the floor where I'd left and aimed at him. I didn't mean to, in the moment I wasn't thinking and was acting irrationally. I fired four shots and he exploded. I wasted no time in gathering up all my belongings, putting my armour on and running out of there. The people would've heard the shots and most probably assume I was the culprit. The guards would normally shoot before asking questions.

I had gotten a fair distance away before stopping. I didn't have to run but then again I never did do anything the logical and practical way. Good people are supposed to think before they do something and choose the option that would hurt the least people and benefit the most. To me, that was the criteria for being good and I most certainly was not. Then my Pip-Boy started beeping, signifying a new radio signal. I went to the radio section on my Pip-Boy and played the new broadcast which didn't have a name.

"Oh god, I don't know where to begin, it's just gotten so much worse." Amata's voice played. My chest tightened at the sound of it. She sounded on the brink of tears.

"I need you here, I know I said you had to leave but I take it all back. Please, I know you're still out there, you've got to be. The password is my name again; if you still care help me. I'll understand if you don't but if you can find in your heart to forgive me then please, I need you." She ended tearfully, obviously crying at this point. I had to help her; every good part of me left was forcing me to do it. I fast-travelled to outside Vault 101 and walked through the gate and down the tunnel to the control panel. Red was right, I would go back.

I typed in Amata's name and the door opened with a loud screech, a noise I was familiar with. Every time I'd walked this way I thought it would the last and every time I was wrong. There was an eerie atmosphere as I walked the corridors to find wherever Amata was, this time I wasn't confronted by anyone which unsettled me. I found Amata crouched in the corner of her room with a few horribly dismembered, decapitated and disfigured dead bodies lying around her.

"Amata, what happened?" I asked softly and approached her cautiously. She looked up at me, her eyes blood shot, tears streaming down her face and blood around her mouth and covering her hands. I then realised what had happened. Amata had turned to cannibalism.

"I-I didn't want to do it." She sobbed. It was awful seeing her like that. I knelt on the floor next to her and looked her in the eyes.

"It's okay, I know how you feel." I soothed her. She cried harder and it took twenty minutes of me comforting her for her to calm down so she could at least speak properly.

"They all kept asking me questions I didn't know the answers to, constantly. I had dozens of people depending on me to sort everything out and it got to me. I snapped and just attacked one of them. I bit them and they tasted so good, I wanted more. I killed them all. All of them are dead because of me." She explained to me. Months prior I would have been horrified at it but I'd seen and heard it all now, it wasn't news to me.

"Do you want me to help you?" I asked. I couldn't deny that it was her fault because it obviously was. I didn't even know if I could help her but I could attempt it at the very least.

"Yes, thank you for coming. I didn't think you would since I banished you. I shouldn't have done that; if you stayed then this would never have happened. Or you would've killed me before it escalated." She smiled, fresh tears rolling down her face.

"Come with me then." I stood up and offered her my hand. She accepted it and we walked out of the Vault together, leaving it abandoned. We decided against closing the door, someone else could find a use for it. We stood outside; Amata shielding her eyes from the sun. I'd forgotten that it was her first time in the outside. I didn't know where to go then. I had a look at all locations discovered on my Pip-Boy, for the best results it would be easier to start somewhere secluded and on our own and then move into a society so it's not such a shock for her, I didn't know how long she'd been on her own.

"Where are we going?" She asked, looking at my Pip-Boy. The problem was, most empty locations were empty because I'd killed the people there and I didn't think that would the best thing for a reforming cannibal. But it was our only option so I decided on The Republic of Dave. We fast-travelled there together and she was slightly perturbed by the dead bodies lying on the floor, I knew this because she squeezed my hand tightly. I took her into the main building, which she seemed to like. It was dark just like the Vault.

"We'll be staying here for a while, I will have to leave you alone sometimes to get supplies but not for too long." I told her like I was talking to a small child. She was like one though, scared and jittery. And I had to protect her now, like when we were children.

"Thank you Vex." She said weakly. I watched as she started looking around her new home, I followed her, watching as she poked around things as though they might explode. She walked like she was in a minefield as well.

"Do you approve?" I asked once she finished surveying everything. She nodded vigorously and hugged me lightly and I returned it.

I wasn't going to give up on her like everything else.

**It's been a while since the last chapter. I like this one, my writing style has change slightly but I'm not sure if it's noticeable.**

**It's the summer holidays so I thought I'd be churning out chapters like there's no tomorrow, quite the opposite. I don't know why, I haven't had the determination to write this. I've been writing something else, a Sims fanfiction which I might post and I've been playing games and I went outside and socialised, once.**

**It was refreshing to write this, Vex's mind is a lot different to the main character of my Sims fanfiction. Out of curiosity, would anyone want me to post the Sims fanfiction? I'll try and continue this one as best I can.**

**-mewandmewtworock**


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